Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers was kept in the loop about the team’s offseason moves and execution, from New York’s pursuit of quarterback Russell Wilson and other veterans to additions in the draft.
Head coach Brian Daboll described the conversation as more informational than consultation — even if Nabers believed he was being asked for approval.
Whichever the case, it was all part of building a relationship with the standout second-year receiver.
“I’d say we have a good relationship,” Daboll said Thursday, recalling conversations that went back to Nabers’ first training camp in 2024. “He’s got good vision on the field — smart player. I’m close with him. I think those relationships with all your players are important and particularly ones that play like Malik, but (Darius) Slayton, I’ve talked to a bunch, Wan’Dale (Robinson), Theo Johnson, GVR (Greg Van Roten), (Brian) Burns, Dexter (Lawrence) — I mean a lot of guys.”
Nabers, who rooted for the Seahawks as a kid and said he’s been a Wilson fan since Seattle won Super Bowl XLVIII, appreciated being in the loop on the Giants’ vision. He said he shared a view from the locker room with the coach.
“I think Dabs did a great job of asking me questions about making moves, and me and him were in contact about moves to be made,” Nabers said. “That was a great job of him reaching out to the players about things that we were missing that we want. I think they did an amazing job of putting a lot of great leaders in this building.”
Nabers and Daboll also likely have discussed the receiver’s ongoing toe ailment.
Nabers said he might eventually need to consider surgery on his injured toe, which became a complex management issue last season. He made multiple acrobatic plays in Wednesday’s practice and Daboll said the entire team — meaning anyone not on a restricted list — would be on the field Thursday.
Daboll would not share his thoughts on Nabers’ revelation about the operating table and said the eye test tells him Nabers is going to be an impact player for the Giants again this season.
“I’m not going to get into injuries and conversations of that. He’s working through it and like I said, I think you all saw, he looks pretty good out there,” Daboll said.
The injury dates to his college career at LSU, Nabers said, but surgery has only been mentioned more recently.
“That’s not up in the air but decisions will be made when the time is made,” Nabers said. “There’s been talk about it. It just never really came to a complete thought in mind for me to do it, but I’ve been managing it well, been running around feeling pretty good. Everything has been going good with the rehab, so my toe is feeling better. I’m just happy to be out there with my guys now.”
Daboll said the Giants remain flexible with Nabers’ practice plan. It will be important for him to gain reps and establish timing and trust with the team’s three new quarterbacks: Wilson, Jameis Winston and Jaxson Dart. He seemed to be clicking with Wilson and Dart on Wednesday. If his practice schedule is altered, Daboll sounds willing to make it work.
“We’ll see as it goes. We’ll go through practice, see how it feels,” Daboll said. “If we have to pull back, we’ll pull back some. It looked pretty good yesterday.”
Nabers, who turns 22 on Monday, set an NFL rookie record with 109 catches last season, which also was a franchise mark with the Giants.
Nabers totaled 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games (13 starts) en route to being named to the Pro Bowl.
–Field Level Media
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